Paul Bronfman wants both sides in the ACTRA labour dispute to know they're not the only ones hoping a deal gets done.

Bronfman — whose company, Comweb Group, is a leading supplier of film services and equipment in Canada and abroad — is helping organize a rally Tuesday in downtown Toronto to push for an end to the six-week actors strike, which has devastated the Canadian film industry.

"I can see both sides in this dispute, but the overall point is that they've got to get a deal done now," Bronfman said Friday. "I appreciate the arguments from both sides, but come on guys, get it together, because wages and compensation aren't going to matter if it goes on much longer, because there won't be any work."

The strike has cost the City of Toronto at least two feature movies and as much as $400 million in lost production, while film revenues so far this year over last year are significantly lower.

Deal on the horizon?

"I was recently in Los Angeles meeting with the various heads of production of the majors and the independents (studios), and basically they're telling me that until you guys get your acts together in terms of your labour strife, we're not booking Canada for anything," Bronfman said.

"And by the way, the competition from New Mexico, Louisiana, New York state, Pennsylvania, et cetera, in terms of the incentives that those states are offering —  Canada is becoming much less competitive than it used to be."

ACTRA, which represents 21,000 actors across the country, began a strike Jan. 8 that allows its members to work only with producers who sign a special continuation letter agreeing to ACTRA's terms on wages, benefits and electronic rights.

The strike began in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and took effect later in other jurisdictions.

There was word earlier this week that the two sides might be inching closer to a deal that could end the strike as early as next week.

ACTRA chief negotiator Steve Waddell suggested a deal could be in the offing as representatives hashed things out via cellphone and e-mail, although John Barrack — chief negotiator for the Canadian Film and Television Production Association — called that "optimistic" and said there was still a lot of ground to cover.

With files from the Canadian Press